On September 3, 2015, following the advice of Georgia Press Association Legal Counsel David Hudson, The Baxley News-Banner asked for an official opinion from Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens’ office regarding an Open Records Request (ORR) that was not fulfilled, and according to Appling County Board of Education attorneys Harbin, Hartley and Hawkins, of Gainesville, was not public information. The request involved a letter that was issued by the school system to then Appling County High School teacher Michael Waters following an incident that occurred in 2014.

As reported on the front page of this week’s issue, Waters has been re-indicted on a number of charges including two counts of aggravated child molestation, five counts of child molestation, three counts of sexual assault by a person with supervisory or disciplinary authority and new charges for three counts of sexual exploitation of children. These despicable charges stem from alleged misconduct with students over the duration of his teaching career in Appling County. He was arrested following an investigation by the Appling County Sheriff’s Office in August 2015.

When The News-Banner learned that Waters had been arrested and had resigned from the school system, we began to research the teacher’s past history. What we found was disturbing. He was investigated and faced charges/accusations while he was employed with the Camden County School System from 2005-2009. In this situation, four male students accused Waters of inappropriately touching them, and the case was turned over to law enforcement. Although no official legal charges were ever filed against Waters in the case since the District Attorney’s office felt there was not enough evidence to convict Waters, the Georgia Professional Standards Commission found enough probable cause with regard to the accusations to suspend Waters’ teaching certificate for 20 days. It is also worth noting that Waters resigned suddenly prior to the completion of the school year and his contract term in 2009 in Camden.

Fast forward to 2014. Following Waters’ arrest, The News-Banner also learned of another situation that took place in 2014 where the Appling County School System actually investigated Waters for inappropriate conduct, possibly between him and a student, and the newspaper also learned that the case was turned over to the Department of Family and Children Services (DFCS). No charges resulted from an investigation performed by DFCS and case information/investigations are not subject to the Open Records Act and can be kept confidential. In addition it was reported to The News-Banner that a letter was issued to Waters by the school system, and the newspaper assumed this was a letter of reprimand to Waters regarding the 2014 incident.

When we filed an ORR to review Waters personnel file, the newspaper was surprised that the letter in question was not included. When we asked Superintendent Dr. Scarlett Copeland about the letter, she explained that the letter included a sentence added by the school system’s attorneys that stated the letter would be added to the teacher’s annual evaluation and be kept confidential. According to state law, letters of reprimand or other letters issued to school personnel are subject to the Open Records Act and should be made available to the public upon request. Annual teacher evaluations are not subject to the Open Records Act and can be kept confidential.

This was an immediate red flag to The News-Banner and we contacted Hudson to garner his opinion on the matter since that letter seemed to coincide with a particular incident and one would assume this was an isolated letter of reprimand to the teacher, not part of any type of ongoing evaluation process. Hudson and the newspaper both agree and argue that if these words can be added to a document (letter, reprimand, etc.) to prevent disclosure, school systems and attorneys would be able to add these words to every single personnel document to prevent disclosure. Therefore, Hudson advised that the newspaper contact the Attorney General’s Office and ask for an official opinion. Harbin, Hartley and Hawkins have held to their original argument and continued to cite Official Code of Georgia (O.C.G.A) 20-2-210 that corresponds with teacher evaluation law.

Since we filed the request for an official opinion from the Attorney General’s Office in September 2015, there have been back-and-forth discussions among the attorneys with Harbin, Hartley and Hawkins, Assistant Attorney General Jennifer Colangelo, Hudson, and this newspaper. To date we still have not received an official opinion on the matter and still have no access to a document that could shed light on steps taken or not taken by the school system against Waters following the 2014 incident, especially since no charges followed an investigation by DFCS.

The Georgia First Amendment Foundation’s Red Book cites the following: “The Open Records Law provides a range of limited exceptions; See O.C.G.A. 50-18-72 in Appendix 1. Under the Open Records Law, these exclusions are subject to a narrow construction and only that portion of a public record to which the exclusion is directly applicable is exempted. “ GFAF references O.C.G.A. 50-18-72(b); City of Brunswick v. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 214 Ga. App. 150 (1994); City of Atlanta v. Corey Entmt, Inc., 278 Ga. 474 (2004) for the above opinion.

It seems as if some public officials and/or attorneys on the public till attempt to find every loophole possible to keep the public in the dark these days. It is sad to think that the very people whose jobs are only possible due to funding received from taxpayers are working hard to keep the same taxpayers from knowing how their government operates. What is even more discouraging is the fact that in this particular case, the record in question deals with the response a school system took to ensure student safety, which should make every parent of a student in Appling County take pause and want to know exactly what actions were taken. But as cited in the headline to this article, I guess that’s the not-so-public side of public education. As citizens and taxpayers, let’s all hope for the sake of open government the Attorney General’s opinion will support openness.

(Editor’s note: If and when an official opinion is issued from the Attorney General’s Office regarding this matter, The News-Banner will provide an update regardless of the outcome.)

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